Media Crisis: 'Has David Ortiz Ruined the Presidential Selfie for the Rest of Us?'

On Monday morning, NBC, ABC, and CBS all found an excuse to cover
Obama's selfie with Red Sox player David Ortiz one more time, expressing
their collective fear that the White House may ban selfies with the
commander-in-chief. On NBC's Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie fretted: "Has David Ortiz ruined the presidential selfie for the rest of us?" [Listen to the audio]

After the networks initially promoted the photo-op as a "good day in Washington" last week, they were chagrined when
word came that Ortiz may have staged the supposedly spontaneous moment
in order to promote cell phone maker Samsung, with whom he had an
endorsement deal.

On Monday's Today, Guthrie declared that the White House was "cracking down" on selfies and "does not want to risk another publicity stunt."

This is the same White House that has recently done a string of
"publicity stunts" to promote ObamaCare, stunts the media have happily
touted.

CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King announced: "And the Washington Post says that the White House has drawn a red line on selfies."

All of the Monday coverage was base on a tongue-in-cheek comment made by White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer on CBS's Face the Nation
on Sunday. After host Bob Schieffer asked about the controversial
snapshot by Ortiz, Pfieffer said in jest: "...maybe this will be the end
of all selfies."

Here are transcripts of the April 7 coverage on the morning shows:

Today
8:09 AM ET

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Alright, we're back at 8:09 with What's Trending
Today. These days, when a person meets the President, I think the first
instinct is to not shake hands – no, it's to take a selfie. But has
David Ortiz ruined the presidential selfie for the rest of us? I pose
the question, because after the Red Sox slugger's photo with President
Obama turned out to be staged, although doesn't he say it wasn't staged?

MATT LAUER: He says no, it was spontaneous.

[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: So Long Selfie!; White House Considers Ban on Presidential Selfies]

GUTHRIE: Okay, well, apparently the White House is cracking down
anyway. A top aide says from here on out, all selfies with the President
could be banned. The White House does not want to risk another
publicity stunt. In fact, the administration was so irked by that photo,
it complained to Samsung, expressing concerns and calling the product
placement inappropriate.

LAUER: Okay.

NATALIE MORALES: I hope it's not the end of selfies with the President.

AL ROKER: I think they'll probably make it on case by case basis.

GUTHRIE: Yeah, I mean, because-

MORALES: As long as there's no product endorsement.

GUTHRIE: Well, right, and I think that most regular folks don't have
those product endorsements. So it's probably safe to do a selfie with
them.

Good Morning America
8:06 AM ET

AMY ROBACH: And finally, selfies with the President, we hear, will
soon be outlawed because of this – Red Sox star David Ortiz posed for a
selfie with President Obama during the team's visit to the White House
last week.

The problem is Ortiz had a marketing deal with the company that made
his phone and his picture was actually a marketing stunt. Someone was
even overheard saying "cha-ching." Well, that is not sitting well with
the White House, which is now considering banning selfies with the
President. Oh, no!

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Did somebody really say cha-ching? Wow.

ROBACH: Someone said cha-ching and one bad apple spoils the bunch. I was waiting for my turn, apparently not.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Oh, well.

ROBACH: Oh, well.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Next time.

CBS This Morning
8:32 AM ET

GAYLE KING: And the Washington Post says that the White House
has drawn a red line on selfies. As we showed you last week, a photo of
President Obama taken by Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was actually part
of a Samsung promotion. On Face the Nation, White House adviser Dan
Pfeiffer told Bob Schieffer that may be the last time we see this.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Did the President get caught here? Did he appreciate that?

DAN PFEIFFER: Well, he obviously didn't know anything about Samsung's
connection to this and perhaps, maybe this will be the end of all
selfies.

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